The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-04-20
He loaned 1t to me and had copy made.

This is IL:
The draft matter complained OF BY Governor
Fenton is this: That in giving credits for past
calls one three years man is counted equal to
three one. years man, while on the pending call
each man is counted one, and only one whether
tical difficulty may be illustrated by the follow
ing supposed case: The towns Of A aud B. be-
on e the lste S esI 'g gave ss'n &C Onegea a
men, leaVlng Only 81 at nome, while
B gave IS thTee-years men, leav-
ing o. at home; on the pending call each owes
100 men, subject to its credit. but while A gets
credit Tor 66 1t owes a. taking the last man in
left quietly at home. This ugly coDiuncture
occurs in some sort accidentally, some towns
putting in one years men, and Others three
years men, attaching no consequence to this
difference, but which now burdens the one
class beyond their immediate power to bear.
While the above is only a supposed case am
where there are not men enough in the town to
answer its quota. Ii gives no present relief
that the one year men are 10 come nome sooner
than the three years men, as the present call
does not wait until they come.
Up to this time it had not been an easy
matter to state the precise difficulty under
which our State labored. Mr.. Lincoln
made the case so clear that the ordinary
mind could comprehend it. The truth was,
so much had been done in the sending of
short-term men to the war, from some To-
calities, that there were no men left to re-
spond. For that reason the number men,
toned in the first call az ,00O) was much
preferred to the larger one.
1t may be stated here, parenthetically,
that about this time it was currently re-
ported that there were good numbers OF
colored men to be had at the South, and a
large number of commissions were issued
from the Executive Department at Albany
for their enlistment; but so far as | know
few were ever obtained.
The committee desired to get rid of rails
ing the number of men called for under
the amended call-62, 600. The authorities
of the State were willing to undertake to
raise three-quarters OF the number, but 1t
was not clear to them how the whole were
10 be obtained. The War Department
would not consent to release the State from
securing the larger number; for, said Mr..
Lincoln, I'VE shall have all the other States
here in twenty-four hours, begging the
same favor"
After full discussion il was settled that
the committee should call the next morn
ing and obtain a decision of the War Office.
At the appointed hour Mr.. Bell and his
colleague repaired to the White House.
The President met them, but his counte-
nance wore an inexpressibly sad look. 1t
was the morning on which the President,
Secretary Seward and one or two other
Government officials were to meet Vice
President Stephens, of the Confsderacy.
with Judah P. Benjamin and one or two
others on the Confederate side OF the
James River, and the President was dressed
for the journey. Being asked what he
thought would be the outcome of it, he re-
piled: Probably nothing"
Addressing Mr.. Bell, the President said:
Suppose you were in my place and L
should come here from the State of New
York making the request you are making
with the war yet unfinished and the ranks
- =
Bell confessed that this was about the most
troublesome conundrum that was ever put
to him. and he did not reply.
The President then told him that the
authorities had decided to allow New
York to put in three-fourths of the men
called for and that the other fourth might
stand for the present. But" said the
President, I'VE must have men; Mr.. STAN
ton tells me your State has a way OF max
ing up part Of her quotas with paper
"Paper menu ouerted Mr. Bell; why,
what does he mean by paper menu
The President answered, in substance,
like this SWELL you have a way in New
York State of procuring the number OF
men shipped in the navy at New York, and
at Buffalo and at 0swego and getting them
credited to you on your allotment under
| the next call for the army. This time we
| must have no paper men; we want men in
boots" He then handed MIR. Bell or Mr..
Andrews q folded paper inclosing another
paper, the outside one having written
/ on it:
Grant the within request If not incompatible
| 4. LINCoLS.
They were to present these at the War
! Department They took their final leave
of President Lincoln and were soon before
Secretary Stanton again.
eyes, you have won the point" re
marked Mr.. Stanton. Theu glancing al
the outside paper, he said: "Oh, there's
nothing incompatible with it; nothing in
compatible; but we need all the men,"
Thus it was that the draft was postponed
| in respect to one-fourth of the men called
for. This was satisfactory to the commit
tee and they returned 20 Albany. But be
fore all was in readiness for making the
draft, and before any considerable number
of men were raised, the rebellion collapsed
and there was general rejoicing throughou
the North, not only on account of thu
close of the war, but also because there
were to be no more drafts to worry th'
people.